Hands-On: Kingdom Hearts 3 is fun, even if you have new to the series



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I think it's safe to say that Kingdom Hearts 3 is one of the most anticipated titles of all time. Fans who have been in the series since 2002 will see their patience rewarded when the game comes out early next year. I recently had the chance to play a demo for one hour. From what I've experienced, it seems like this long-awaited episode will have everything fans could have hoped for and more. Even the beginners of the series will find a lot to like here.

I have never played a game Kingdom Hearts . Apart from seeing friends playing in the day or checking out a short demo of the HD reissue from 2013, I have no real experience with the franchise. I know that he has a combination of Disney characters and Square-Enix. I also understand that he has a convoluted plot thanks to all the spin-off prequels released over the years. In addition to that, I went into the demo knowing almost nothing. I am happy to announce that I ended up spending a wonderful time despite my ignorance of the franchise. It's a quality title across and through.

For those who do not know it, Kingdom Hearts takes place in a universe where all the different worlds of Disney are connected. It should not be a surprise to learn that Mickey Mouse is the king of this shared universe. One day, he notices dark creatures called "Heartless" who invade kingdoms. In their wake, a wave of darkness begins to consume the land.

Mickey sends Donald (the royal mage) and Goofy (the captain of the guard) to find a Keyblade bearer. Keyblades are mystical weapons in the universe Kingdom Hearts . They have the power to seal the keyholes in the heart of each world (where the Heartless are sneaking). They find Sora, whose world (Destiny Island) was destroyed by the Heartless. The three companions then travel to different Disney countries to repel the Heartless. Along the way, they become friends with many Disney characters.

Even if you are not familiar with all the subtleties of the series, you can jump into Kingdom Hearts 3 blind. The basic story of friendship and light overcoming darkness is a subject that the general public will understand easily. You will instantly know who are the good guys and the bad guys. Although there is certainly some complexity to the story, you do not need a master's degree in 19459003 Kingdom Hearts to understand the third entry. Certainly, the more you know the backstory, the more you will appreciate the return of certain characters. But overall Kingdom Hearts 3 is easy to penetrate for everyone

At the beginning of Kingdom Hearts 3 Sora, Donald and Goofy return to the Olympus. This level is used in part of the world of the tutorial of the game. Here, I had to face a lot of Heartless while familiarizing myself with the controls. This is an RPG action, which means hack and slash combat, magic attacks, and a lot of special over-the-top hits. Although I'm not a veteran Kingdom Hearts I immediately understood the controls. They instantly became second nature.

A representative of PR Square-Enix explained that Sora is more agile than in previous episodes. For example, he can now run on shimmering vertical surfaces. It also has contextual motions. I can not compare the controls to previous games, but they certainly felt fluid. There has never been a case where I fought against the controls. They felt natural, which testifies to the solidity of the mechanics.

Typing R1 locks enemies. By holding the button, you can "lock" the enemies. This allows you to line up with enemies and make multi-hit combos on them. Doing a shooting attack is a risk compared to the reward since you are frozen in place while lining up your opponents. Holding down the attack button after doubling the bad guys allows you to take full advantage of the attack. This movement uses the charge counter so you will have to rebuild it by making attacks or drinking an elixir.

After sending the Heartless, I had to run down a mountain to face the boss of the scene. As I climbed the vertical path, the giant two-headed monster threw giant rocks that I had to avoid. So that I could put myself in the head, I had to weaken his feet first by attacking them. After damaging both feet, I hit his face and hit him with my Keyblade

During the fight against the boss, I checked the Link system, which is actually the version of invocations. I've summoned a creature called Meow Wow, which comes from a previous entry Kingdom Hearts . There are many different invocations in the game and each has its own attacks and its last moves.

While attacking the boss's head, I had to try another new mechanism called the Attack Attraction. Basically, you can invoke some Disney park attractions. The rides are context specific, depending on the boss's situation or fight. In this case, it was the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Pressing R2, I could attack the boss with fireworks while the train was rolling in his tracks. I could also do a finishing move by pressing Triangle. By doing this attack, I was able to finish the fearsome enemy and complete this part of the demo.

The next world I tried was Toy Story. Each of the game worlds has an art style corresponding to each property. At Mount Olympus, Sora, Donald, and Goofy seemed to come from this world. In Toy Story, they all looked like CGI toys. The developers have done their best to capture the look and feel of each world. They even put subtle details like scratches on the toys or make sure to add stitches to Woody's left arm (which was torn off in Toy Story 2 )

is autonomous. The characters of each kingdom do not know the other worlds of Disney. To preserve the integrity of each land, Sora and her pals must match each world. With Toy Story, Sora and her pals look like figurines. In Monsters Inc., they become monsters, while in Pirates of the Caribbean, they look like pirates. It was said that the developers gave each world its own style, but also tried to maintain a consistent look for the game in general. As you can imagine, it was not easy.

You can now activate keyblades, which is something completely new in the series. When you launch attacks on enemies, you build a counter at the bottom left of the screen (just above the actions menu). Pressing the Triangle button (on PS4) triggers a powerful, special movement. The game has a wide assortment of special moves for players to try. Since you are building up energy relatively quickly, you do not have to be frugal with special moves. You are encouraged to use them often.

Players can now equip up to three different keyblades at a time. They can also level each keyblade to make them stronger. Before, there was no incentive to continue using keyblades obtained from previous worlds since the new keyblades were more powerful. Now, keyblades for which you have a penchant are viable even later in the game since you can level them.

Different keyblades can be used even in combos. During the Toy Story section, I had the Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Tangled Keyblades. The Toy Story Keyblade has special attacks that summon yo yos and tea cups, Monsters Inc. has different kinds of melee attacks, and Tangled has magic-based attacks. As the attacks of a Keyblade last 30 seconds, you have time to switch to another Keyblade and use its attack and finish moves. Try all the different attacks is very fun.

Toy Story is a brand new world for the franchise, as are Frozen, Monsters Inc., Pirates of the Caribbean, Tangled, and more. There are also worlds specific to Kingdom Hearts that are not based on Disney properties. When Sora and his friends arrive at Toy Story, they meet Woody, Buzz, Rex and the rest. They learn that all humans (including Andy) have disappeared at the moment the Heartless have arrived. Woody and Buzz join the Sora gang to stop the Heartless and restore the world.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is the first time you see the world outside the window of Andy. After getting out of the window and entering the street, you have to engage in various pockets of Heartless. In a series, the characters of each of the worlds fight alongside your group of three men. This actually gives you a party with five members. These characters make their own unique attacks. For example, Woody reaches out behind his back and pulls his rope to use it as a lasso against enemies.

As mentioned above, each world has its own attacks of attraction and bonding. Instead of riding a train that pulls fireworks, you ride on a giant firecracker alongside Buzz and Woody in the Toy Story world. For the Link attack, you get help from Wreck-it-Ralph. This character has a CRT filter on his body that gives him a classic gaming feel. With his special attack, he creates a static field that traps enemies that he can then crush. This is a perfect effect zone attack to use against several bad guys.

The last part of the demo took place in a new area called Galaxy Toys. The demo only had the ground floor, but in the last game, players can expect to see several floors each with their own kind of toys. There will be a floor for toddler toys, a floor for dolls, and even a whole floor filled with figurines Final Fantasy

For this section, Sora will pilot a mech toy and face other mechs. The angle of the camera is in the first person, which gives it a good feeling of mechanical play. After having sufficiently damaged a robot, you can jump in it. Each of the different colored mechs has unique movements and attacks. This part is great because of its difference. I am told to expect more from this kind of surprises in the game.

In addition to the main story, players can expect more mini games. One is a cooking game with Remy de Ratatouille . You have to find hidden ingredients in many of the worlds and use them to create new recipes. There are 20 different old-style Tiger Toys / Game & Watch style side scrolling games based on Mickey Mouse cartoons from the 1930s and 1940s. Build Your Gummi Vessel (used to travel in every world) is at about a mini game in itself. Kingdom Hearts 3 is about 40-50 hours if you stay on the critical path. Including mini-games, players can expect more than 80 hours of content.

Kingdom Hearts 3 looks very good up here. Players who have been with the franchise since 2002 are sure to enjoy what awaits them. As the last part of the story that began in the first game, this title will undoubtedly serve as a form of closure for longtime devotees. Even if you're like me and just dive for the first time, you'll enjoy seeing the crazy mix of Disney fantasy and Square-Enix production values. I'm curious to see how fans of the series will react when the game falls on January 29th.

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